HealthyConcerns.com

Well, that didn't take long

Remember how I ranted a bit about women's health issues getting politicized?

And predicted such politicization swirling up around the impending cervical cancer vaccine?

Well, it didn't take long. And I'm feeling even crabbier than I already was from writing about the poor elderly trying to get their flu shots.

These conservative groups would seriously rather kids get cancer than protect them against it. It's that simple. And have these morons never thought about rape?

Here's a sobering stat, jerks:

* 38% of women who have been raped were 14-17 years old at the time of the attack

*Source: Penn State site.

I could just scream at the completely self-serving, short-sighted asshattery of it all!!!!

hat tip: Kevin MD

Healthy Story: Feel like getting even crankier?

Then read ElderBlogger Ronni Bennett's account of getting her flu shot. Now imagine it was your grandma or grandpa being treated with such disregard.

It's infuriating. And goes a long way toward explaining why people in this country go to such lengths to "avoid" aging.

Recently healthy guru Dr. Andrew Weil was on the Martha Stewart show, and he made a repeated, strong point of saying there is no "avoiding" aging. There is no "combatting" aging. We are all going to age, he repeated, the question is how can we age well?

Nice words, but rading stories like Ronni's reminds you why people in this society have gotten so panicked about aging. Not just because how it feels inside, or looks on the outide...but because pof how old people are treated by those on the other side of the senior line!

Ronni has forwarded her suggestions to the NY Board of Health about how to handle flu shots for Seniors in a more organized and humane fashion. Let's hope they know how to listen.

Healthy Story: How do you get turned away from emergency chemotherapy?

By not filling out the right form.

Meet SuperDaughter...flying in to the rescue after a sudden diagnosis of cancer hits her doctor-averse father. Yes, he's one of those men I talk about: hasn't been to the doctor in 30 years. And he's a guy who smokes and drinks and eats like crap. But even he was convinced to go to the doctor when he couldn't eat for days in a row. And when he had to admit that yes, he had lost 80 pounds or so in 6 months.

Yes, I can hear some of my occasional HealthyConcerns commenters now: 'this is a guy who didn't take care of himself, who delayed care, who did everything wrong. You're not really going to blame anything on the HMO are you?'

Well, let's bear in mind...this is someone's dad. And that someone has flown in to help her mom and her dad wade through what they rightly anticipated would be the red-tape nightmare of dealing with such a health emergency with an HMO they had never even visited before.

So, no, I would never blame cancer on the HMO. But I might just blame hospital staff neglect and improper instructions on the HMO. Is that so wrong?

Read on...

Healthy Story Update: "What's wrong with her?"

Remember Doubtful Mom? She's the one whose daughter was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder, but doubted the doctors' diagnosis.

Well, DM and her husband signed their daughter up for the 20 hours or so per week of in-home therapy that the state generously pays for. The therapist showed up and after a little time hanging with the child asked the mom, "So, what's wrong with her?"

I thnk DM feels more than a little vindicated right about now, but we'll see what the doctors say next.

Grand Rounds is up at Kidney Notes

This week Grand Rounds is up at KidneyNotes. Check out the week's best in medblogging.

KidneyNotes starts out by commenting on just how big the blogosphere and medbloggsphere is becoming. Seems to me that Carnivals such as Grand Rounds will become ever more popular as people look for ways to reduce information overload.

I submitted a couple of posts, including this one on whether IVF procedures should be covered by health insurance.

Enjoy.

Local health fair (San Jose, CA)

Well, this blog may have a national focus, but I am a local San Jose girl, so I thought I'd point other local folks to a health fair a week from today:

24th Assembly District Carnival & Health Fair
Saturday November 5th
9:30AM-12:30PM
Sherman Oaks Community Center
1800-A Fruitdale Avenue
San Jose, CA
Info: 408-282-8920

Free screenings available:
Diabetes
Blood Pressure
Body Mass Index (BMI)

Did I mention the screeenings are free?

Healthy Story: A tweaked shoulder not getting better...

Yes, I have what appears to be a medical problem: I somehow tweaked the left side of my neck shoulder and upperback, and it doesn't seem to be getting better with the passage of, now, 6 days. It hurts to turn my head. It hurts to turn over in bed. It hurts to do most things.

I tweak various parts of my neck, back and shoulders fairly often, and it ususally rights itself with time. This doesn't feel like it's righting itself too well.

My S.O. tried to convince me to take the day off from the computer, but what can I do? My business is all online, and my business is very dependent on, well, me. I did promise him I would go offline on Sunday for sure. And maybe a big portion of tomorrow.

Meanwhile I keep wavering between going to get a massage, popping some more Advil and waiting it out, or actually going to the doctor.

I think I need to stop making fun of men for avoiding the doctor. Clearly I have no problem going to do the regular maintenance things, but a real resistance to any "special" trips for isolated issues.

Are we discouraging researchers?

My cousin is a pretty brilliant and dedicated guy. He spent a number of years at Columbia University getting his MD/PhD. Yup he did med school, took a few years to do his doctoral work, and then went back into internship and residency. I'm not even sure how many years it took...a lot.

He is very interested in neurological research, but is starting to question. Why?

"I have moved up to boston for a new "job." It's not really a job--but actually a post-doc that pays so little it keeps me living as a student (living in a group house, unable to afford a car.) "Poverty" at 30 feels different than it did at 25, so I'm starting to have some doubts about this research thing."

The work he's doing sounds really important: "I'm researching how birds learn how to sing. The birds use a brain circuit to learn their song that is just like a mammalian circuit that learns movement and that goes awry in parkinson's, tourette's, and other movement disorders."

This reminds me of another friend of mine who is in post-doc for psychology. Right now he has two job opportunities (in NYC.) One is with a very well-known researcher. One is with a well-known (and high-end $$) therapeutic clinic. He too feels like he's in a quandary.

Here is my naive, layperson's impression of this: that these guys must be working on research that is too early on to lead directly to the creation of a marketable pharmaceutical or device products, and therefore they toil in obscurity and at low-pay.

And yet these guys are doing research that will form the foundation of that later leverageable research.

How accurate is my impression?

And if that impression is correct, how do we keep researchers from leaving the world of this research to make a better living? (Sort of like the recent new reports about doctors leaving third world countries in droves...it's disturbing and makes one worry about the future.)

That's me...all question, no solution. Sorry.

Do any male-oriented health issues get politicized like this?

OK, first: yes, I know breast cancer, reproductive rights, freedom of choice, privacy etc. These are not solely women's issues. For every women who is contemplating birth control, the morning after pill, pregnancy, a masectomy...there's likely a man somewhere involved. And of course men can get breast cancer too.

But can we agree that society deems these women's issues? Whether we need to change society's attitude or not, this is still the case. So, don't get on me for that.

Reading this story about an anti-abortion group who is trying to co-opt the pink ribbon symbol to "advertise a link between abortion and breast cancer" I feel completely sickened. First of all, the science on that supposed link Is. Not. There.

But my rant today is about how somehow women's issues around health become political footballs in the way that men's issues do not seem to be. I can think of one little dust-up over whether Viagra should be covered by Medicare/Medicaid and whether it was being provided to registered sex offenders. But other than that, the health issues of men seem to stay relatively free of political interference.

It's infuriating to me.

Or has this story blinded me with rage, and the politicization of health issues is really much more evenly allocated between the genders?

Carnival of the Vanities is up at Baboon Pirates

You heard me right, Baboon Pirates.

Carnival of the Vanities is where you submit what you believe is your week's best post. Now for some weak, wimpy single-blog bloggers that choice might not be so hard. But for me, with the insanity of my 9-blog life, it can be a challenge.

This week I submitted, and they used, my post about Doubtful Mom and her child who supposedly has Pervasive development Disorder. As is often the case in blogging, the comments are making this post far more interesting than the post alone could be. So far we've heard from moms, from doctors, and even from a kid who was in the same boat as Doubtful Mom's boat.

So check out Carnival of the Vanities. Let the preening begin!